Manufacture of radiator-tubing.



e. E. WHEELER.

MANUFACTURE OF RADIATOR IUBING.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 5. 191a.

1,32OQQ30D Patented Nov. 4, 1919.

1TED snares rarest OFFER. .8

GARDNER E. WHEELER, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE ENGLISH &i MERSICK COMPANY, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF CON-NECTICUT.

i MANUFACTURE OF RADIATOR-TUBING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 4, 1919.

Application filed June 5, 1918. Serial No. 238,406.

State of Connecticut, have invented certain.

newand useful Improvements in the Manufacture of Radiator-Tubing and thelike, of

I which the following is a full, clear,'and exact description.

This invention relates to a method of rigidly securing fins and the liketo tubes, and it has particular reference to a method of rigidlysecuring fins or disks to automobile radiator tubes without the use ofsolder, metallic cement or-the like.

Many of the automobile radiators now in general use and particularly theradiators used upon heavy automobile trucks are provided with radiatorcooling tubes which are surrounded by fins or the like to increase.

the surface area of the cooling tubes and thereby increase the coolingeffect of the radiator. These radiators, which may be used to coolpractically any type of internal combustion engines, are commonlyprovided with a number of vertical tubes through which the coolingliquid flows. One well known method of increasing the surface area ofthese tubes is to stamp a large number of thin disks out of a sheet ofbrass or the like, then place these disks upon the tube, and solder thesame in place upon the tube. It is essential that some means other thanfrictional engagement between'the tubes and the disk be provided toretain the disks in place, since the expansion and contraction of thetubes produced by the changes in temperature to which the radiator issub- 'mitted in actual use is such that a snug engagement between thedisks and tubes will not retain the disks in place. The only practicalmeans now in use for retaining these disks in place (so far as I amaware). is solder, but solder is expensive and at present is verydiflicult to obtain at any price.

The primary object of the present 1nvention therefore is to provide asimple and efficient method of permanently securing cool ing disks orfins in place upon radiator cooling tubes without the use of solder orother form r of metallic cement.

To these and other ends, the invention consists in the novel featuresand steps to Y be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing,

Figure 1 is aside View of a short portion of a radiator tube having thedisks or fins secured thereto by my new method, the tube being shownwith a number of disks or fins removed therefrom;

Fig. 2 isa longitudinal sectional view of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional View taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of one of the disks or fins removed from its tube;

Fig. 5 is a side view of a tube showing a modification of my method ofsecuring the disks to a radiator tube; and

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of Fig. 5.

In the accompanyin drawing, the numeral 1O designates a s ort section ofa metallio tube having a number of disks or fins '11 mounted thereupon.The disks 11 have a central opening 12 formed therethrough, whichopening is surrounded by an integral flange 13. These disks are alsopreferably provided with a plurality of annular grooves or corrugations14. The latter tend to main force or stifl'en the disks, and thelaterally bent annular flange 13 forms 'a collar or sleeve to receivethe tube 10. The type of disk or fin just described is well-known and isin common use upon radiator tubes, the fins usually being made of brass,and the radiator tube upon which they are usually mounted is of softcopper. These disks are usually rigidly secured to the radiator tubeupon which they are mounted by giving the tube a coating of'solder, thenplacing the disks upon the same in the desired spaced relation, and thenheating these tubes sufficiently to cause the solder to rigidly bind thedisks to the tube. This method of securing the disks to thetube up tothe present time has proved fairly satlsfactory except that it consumesa considerable amount of solder, which is expensive and at presentdifficult to obtain, as above stated. Therefore it is very desirable torovide means for securing the disks 11 rlgidly in place upon their tubewithout the use of solder. With this object in view I have devised thefollowing method of securing disks to a tube, which consists of placinga number. of disks as shown in the drawing, the central opening throughthe disks 11 being of substantially the same size as the externaldiameter of the tube 10 upon which they are mounted, and then connectingthe ends of the tube to a hydraulic pump or the like by which liquid maybeforced into the tube 10 under suflicient ressure to cause the walls ofthe tube' preferably assume the appearance shown in cross-section inFig. 2, which shows this tube as having small undulations 10* formedbetweenthe disks .11. Figs. 1 and 2 illustrate a tube which has beensubjected to the desired amount of internal pressure, with the disksapplied upon the outer surface thereof, certain of the dlsks'having beencut off afterward to better illustrate the undulations formed in thetube.

Heretofore it has been customary to use soft copper seamless tubes forthe type of radiator tube herein described, and to form the fins ordisks with which these tubes are provided outof brass or similarmaterial somewhat harder than the tube upon which they are mounted. Thisdifference in the two metals just referred to lends itself admirably tothe method above described for securing the disks to the tubes, sincethe soft copper tube is sufliciently ductile to permit its wells-to beforced outwardly between t'he adJacent disks 11 without requiring aninternal pressure suflicient toburst the flanges 13 of the disks 11.However, 'it will be apparent that the method herein described may beused in connection with any tube which is sufficiently ductile to permitits walls to be bulged outwardly without rupturing the same.

In Figs. 5 and 6 of the drawing, I have illustrated a modification ofthe method of securing the disks or fins to the radiator tube withoutthe use of solder, it being obvious that the method described herein isnot limited to the ideaof distorting the tube outwardly to preventlateral displacement of the disks thereupon, since the same result maybe accomplished by forcing the flanges 13 into rigid binding engagementwith the tube u on which they are mounted.

In this modlfication of my invention, I place a number of disks or finson a radiator tube, as above described, and then secure these disks 11to their tube 10 by exerting external pressure upon the flanges 13' ofthe disks so as toembed these flanges in the external walls of the tube10', as shown more particularly in Fig. 6. One practical way which Ipropose for exerting a pressure on the flanges 13' to embed the same inthe tube 10 is to provide a number of semi-circular jaws or the likehaving substantially the samediameter as the exterior tion as defined inthe claims.

While my invention is of particular value by reason of the economies dueto the elimination of solder, it will be apparent that the methodhereindescribed is very advantageous byreason of its simplicity and the factthat the known drawbacks and inconveniences incident to the use ofsolder in manufacturing operations are avoided. The invention provides,in a very simple way, a positive interlock between the fin and theductile tube on which it is mounted, said tube lending itself easily tosuch distortion of its wall on opposite sides of each fin or elsewhere,as the case may be, as to provide the locking enlargements or bulgesdisposed between the various fins. While, in the form shown in Figs. 5and 6, the operation as such is not one of outwardly bulging outdeparting from the scope'of my inventhe tube, the finished articlepresents outward bulges between the fins or disks, generally similar tothose shown in Figs, 1 and 2.

What I claim is 1. The method of securing fins to a radiator tube or thelike, which comprises placing individual fins upon a tube in spacedrelation, and then distorting the wall of the tube outwardly between theadjacent fins to prevent the fins from moving lengthwise of said tube.

2. The method of securing fins to a radiator tube or the like,'whichcomprises placing individual disks upon a tube in spaced relation, andthen forclng a liquid into said tube under suflicient pressure to.produce a bulging of the walls of the tube between the ad acent disks.

3. The method of securing fins to a radiator tube or the like, whichcomprises placing upon a tube a plurality of disks having centralopenings therethrough andflanges surrounding said openings, and thenproducing a relative distortion between the walls of the tube and saidflanges by the exertion of pressure to produce binding engagementbetween said flanges and tube.

. 4. The method of securing fins to a radiator tube or the like, whichcomprises placing upon a tube a plurality of disks having centralopenings therethrough and flanges surrounding said openings, andexerting pressure upon one of said elements to distort the samesufiiciently to produce binding engagement between said flanges andtube.

5. The method of securing fins to a radiator tube or the like, whichcomprises placing a plurality of perforated fins on a tube in spacedrelation, and then subjecting the tube to lateral pressure at aplurality of points to form locking bulges between the 6. The method ofsecuring cooling fins to a radiator tube or the like, which comprisesplacing individual fins upon a tube in spaced relation to each other,and then submitting the interior of the tube to sufli cient bulgingpressure to distort the portions of the tube not engaged by the finsoutwardly between the ad acent fins.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand on the 3rd day of June,1918.

GARDNER E. WHEELER.

